Communication disorders encompass a range of conditions that affect an individual's ability to comprehend, detect, or apply speech and language skills. These disorders can impact various aspects of communication, including speech, language, voice, and fluency. Here are some common types of communication disorders: 1. Speech Disorders: • Articulation Disorders: Difficulty pronouncing sounds correctly. • Phonological Disorders: Challenges with organizing and using speech sounds in a language-appropriate way. • Fluency Disorders: Disruptions in the normal flow of speech, such as stuttering. 2. Language Disorders: • Expressive Language Disorder: Difficulty in using spoken language to communicate, including limited vocabulary and sentence structure. • Receptive Language Disorder: Difficulty understanding or processing language. • Mixed Receptive-Expressive Language Disorder: A combination of difficulties in both understanding and using language. 3. Voice Disorders: • Dysphonia: Disruption of the normal production of sounds from the vocal folds, resulting in abnormal pitch, loudness, or quality of voice. • Voice Disorders due to Structural Abnormalities: Disorders caused by physical abnormalities in the vocal tract. 4. Fluency Disorders: • Stuttering (or Stammering): Involves disruptions in the normal flow of speech, such as repetitions, prolongations, or blocks. 5. Social Communication Disorder: • Difficulty with the social use of verbal and nonverbal communication, impacting conversational skills and the ability to understand and use social cues appropriately. 6. Audiological Processing Disorders: • Difficulty processing auditory information, which can affect the ability to understand speech, especially in noisy environments. 7. Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) Disorders: • Conditions that necessitate the use of alternative communication methods, such as sign language, communication boards, or electronic devices, due to limited speech or language abilities. 8. Pragmatic Language Disorders: • Challenges in using language in social contexts, including difficulties with turn-taking, maintaining eye contact, and understanding nonverbal cues. 9. Cognitive-Communication Disorders: • Impairments in cognitive functions that impact communication, such as memory, attention, problem-solving, and executive functions. 10. Selective Mutism: • An anxiety disorder where individuals consistently fail to speak in certain situations or to specific people, despite speaking in other situations. It's important to note that communication disorders can vary widely in severity and may be present alone or in combination with other disorders. Diagnosis and treatment are typically carried out by speech-language pathologists, audiologists, or other qualified professionals. outline: Language Disorders 1. Expressive Language Disorders 2. Receptive Language Disorders 3. Pragmatic Language Disorders

1. III. Language Disorders
A. Definition of Language Disorders
B. Types of Language Disorders
1. Receptive Language Disorders
2. Expressive Language Disorders
3. Pragmatic Language Disorders
Outline

2. III. Language Disorders

3. A. Defining Language Disorders
• A language disorder is an impairment that affects the expression or
reception (comprehension) of ideas and feelings.
• It potentially includes problems such as reduced vocabulary,
omissions of articles and modifiers, understanding of nouns but not
verbs, difficulties following oral instructions, and syntactical errors.
(APA Dictionary of Psychology, 2007)
Association, A. P. (2007). APA Dictionary of Psychology. American Psychological Association (APA).

4. • Language disorders or language impairments are disorders that involve the
processing of linguistic information.
• Problems experienced can involve:
 Grammar (syntax and/or morphology)
Semantics (meaning)
Pragmatics (use and contexts)
• Current data indicates that 7% of young children in the U.S. display language
disorder, with boys being diagnosed twice as often as girls. (Beitchman&
Brownlie, 2014)
Defining Language Disorders
Beitchman, J., & Brownlie, E. B. (2014). Language disorders in children and adolescents. Cambridge, MA: Hogrefe & Huber.

5. Risk factors
• Potential risk factors may be:
 Biological factors, such as low birth weight, prematurity, general
birth complications, and male gender.
Genetic factors, such as family history.
Social factors, such as poor parenting style.
Beitchman, J., & Brownlie, E. B. (2014). Language disorders in children and adolescents. Cambridge, MA: Hogrefe & Huber.

6. Language Disorder or Speech Disorder
• Language disorders and Speech Disorders are two distinct types of
Communication Disorders. (APA Dictionary of Psychology, 2007)
 Language disorders may be receptive, productive, or mixed, affecting
morphology, syntax, and semantics.
Speech Disorders are only productive, affecting phonology or speech
sounds.
APA Dictionary of Psychology. (n.d.). https://dictionary.apa.org/mixed-receptive-expressive-language-disorder. Retrieved 11-02-2024

7. B. Types of Language Disorders
1. Receptive Language Disorders
2. Expressive Language Disorders
3. Pragmatic Language Disorders

8. 1. Receptive Language Disorders
• Receptive language disorder involves impairment in the ability to
understand, or comprehend, language.
• Deficits may be observed in the comprehension of oral, written, gestural,
and/or symbolic language systems.
• All levels of language may be affected, including at the word, sentence, and
discourse levels.
American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-IV-TR. Washington, DC.

9. • Receptive language disorders can be acquired—as in the case of receptive
aphasia, or developmental (most often the latter).
• When developmental, difficulties in spoken language tend to occur before three
years of age.
• Most children with a receptive language disorder will also have an expressive
language disorder (Mixed Receptive-Expressive Language Disorders).
Receptive Language Disorders
Understood for All Inc. (n.d.) (2014). Signs and symptoms: Understanding Language Disorders. Understood.
https://www.understood.org/en/topics/signs-and-symptoms. Retrieved 11-02-2024.

10. • Symptoms and signs of a receptive language disorder include:
Struggling to understand the meanings of words and sentences.
Struggling to put words in proper order.
Inability to follow verbal instructions.
• Treatment options include:
Language therapy, with a speech-language pathologist.
Special education classes for children at school.
 Psychologist if accompanied by behavioral problems.
Receptive Language Disorders
Understood for All Inc. (n.d.) (2014). Signs and symptoms: Understanding Language Disorders. Understood.
https://www.understood.org/en/topics/signs-and-symptoms. Retrieved 11-02-2024.

11. Causes of Receptive Language Disorders:
• The cause is often unknown, though it may be related to:
 Genetic factors
Environmental factors such as amount of exposure to speech and language
Delays in general development.
Children with developmental disorders such as Autism and Down’s Syndrome
Medical conditions such as a brain injury or brain tumor.
Receptive Language Disorders
Long, A. (2024). Receptive Language Disorder. Bilinguistics. https://bilinguistics.com/receptive-language-disorder. Retrieved 11-02-
2024

12. • Children with a receptive language delay can have difficulty with any of the following:
Understanding what gestures mean
Following directions
Understanding questions
Identifying objects and pictures
Taking turns when talking with others
Understanding the order of words in a sentence
Understanding plurals and verb tenses
Examples of Receptive Language Disorders
Long, A. (2024). Receptive Language Disorder. Bilinguistics. https://bilinguistics.com/receptive-language-disorder. Retrieved 11-02-
2024

13. • Children with a receptive language delay can have difficulty with any of the following:
Understanding age-appropriate vocabulary and knowledge about objects and sequence of events
Knowledge of the goals or functions of language (e.g. to obtain a desired object, tell a story, ask
questions, comment)
Knowledge of how to use language to achieve goals (e.g. appropriately using language to get a
desired object )
Carrying out cooperative conversations (e.g. perspective-taking and turn-taking)
Examples of Receptive Language Disorders
Long, A. (2024). Receptive Language Disorder. Bilinguistics. https://bilinguistics.com/receptive-language-disorder. Retrieved 11-02-
2024

14. 2. Expressive Language Disorders
• Developmental disorders, classified in the The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual
of Mental Disorders, as a type of communication disorders.
• Characterized by impairment in acquiring the ability to use language effectively
for communicating with others despite normal language comprehension.
• Manifestations include below-average vocabulary skills, difficulty producing
complete sentences, and problems recalling words.
Black, D. W., MD, & MPH, J. E. G. M., JD. (2014). DSM-5 Guidebook: The Essential Companion to the Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition. American Psychiatric Pub.

15. Expressive Language Disorders
• Expressive Language disorders can also be acquired due to head trauma.
• As developmental disorders, the child will have difficulty acquiring new words and
grammatical structures
• Due to the very nature of these disorders, the child may struggle with academics
and socializing with peers.
• Experts who commonly treat such disorders include speech pathologists and
audiologists.
Black, D. W., MD, & MPH, J. E. G. M., JD. (2014). DSM-5 Guidebook: The Essential Companion to the Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition. American Psychiatric Pub.

16. • Common features of an Expressive Language disorder are:
 Limited vocabulary
 Inability to produce complex grammar
Lexical errors, leaving out common words
Difficulty remembering common words
 Incoherent stories
Lack of interest in conversation
Common features of an Expressive Language Disorder
Black, D. W., MD, & MPH, J. E. G. M., JD. (2014). DSM-5 Guidebook: The Essential Companion to the Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition. American Psychiatric Pub.

17. 3. Pragmatic Language Disorders
• Pragmatic language Disorder (PLD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder
characterized by significant difficulties in the social use of verbal and
nonverbal communication.
• Individuals with PLD struggle to effectively engage in social interactions,
interpret social cues, and use language appropriately in social contexts.
American Psychiatric Association, (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision.
Washington, DC, USA: American Psychiatric Publishing.

18. Pragmatic Language Disorders
• This disorder can have a profound impact on an individual's ability to
establish and maintain relationships, navigate social situations, and
participate in academic and professional settings.
• It has only been since 2013 that SPCD has become its own category in
the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5, 2013).
American Psychiatric Association, (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision.
Washington, DC, USA: American Psychiatric Publishing.

19. Symptoms of Pragmatic Language Disorder
Individuals with may have difficulty with:
Understanding questions
Understanding choices and making decisions
Following conversations or stories (conversations are "off-topic" or "one-sided")
Extracting the key points from a conversation or story and getting lost in the details
Verb tenses
Explaining or describing an event (Norbury et al., 2004)

20. Symptoms of Pragmatic Language Disorder
Individuals with may have difficulty with:
Understanding satire or jokes and contextual cues
Reading comprehension
Reading body language
Making and maintaining friendships and relationships because of delayed
language development
Distinguishing offensive remarks (Norbury et al., 2004)
Norbury, C., Nash, M., Baird, G., & Bishop, D. V. M. (2004). Using a parental checklist to identify diagnostic groups in children with
communication impairment: a validation of the Children’s Communication Checklist—2. International Journal of Language & Communication
Disorders, 39(3), 345–364. https://doi.org/10.1080/13682820410001654883